I feel that I have chosen wisely on the selection of a photographer. She demonstrates professional images and works efficiently in order to get a pleasing result.
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| Edit for her portfolio. |
After looking through the images I was really happy with the images of Meg and selected a few that I thought that would be good to use in my calendar. The one's of Christie were a little more difficult. I felt there were few that I thought were strong and could not decide on one that I really liked. I contacted Magdelena to say would it be possible to have more images sent to me of Christie. I got the impression that she was not too impressed with the way the images had turned out of her.
I decided to go into the Uni and get a second opinion on which images to use. After speaking to my lecturer we came to the conclusion that the Christie shoot would need to be re-shot as they were not strong enough and the make up did not gel well together. Together we selected which images would be best to get edited of Meg.I feel that the feedback from my tutor helped with the improvement of my calendar. I feel by visiting a tutor for feedback I have addressed the ' Display initiative and show responsibility for independent learning' learning outcome as I have taken advice and used it to improve the project.
I decided to ask for 4 images to get edited of Meg and I still had to get two images of Christie edited as I was working on a time for print basis, so Christie was expecting to get images. I picked two images of her.
I sent Magdelena the list of images I wanted along with ways that I wanted them editing, for example I asked for a certain crop of the image, darken the lip makeup, tidy a brow etc.
I had a reply a few hours later stating this:
Hi Marie,
I was happy to do the shoot as it was a great opportunity for me to be a part of your creative project and also help you out. In honesty, I was expecting to be more flexible with the edit.
I think you are being a bit too specific with your requirements when it comes to the editing part. Taking into consideration the fact you are not my client and we're supposed to work on a TFP basis - however I'm helping you out as much as I can to meet your requirements and also try to benefit from the shoot myself.
I will edit the pics you've pre-sellected however as a photographer I will use my creativity to produce the images I can put my name on.
I will do my best with the edit to bring the images closer to your requirements but I will make sure I'm happy with them first.
It's up to you if you wish to use the final results in your calendar.
I won't be putting my watermark.
What's the absolute deadline?
Mx
I had a mixture of emotions, I felt bad in the fact that I might have offended her but I strongly disagreed because I did not think I was being too specific and seen as this was my project I expected to have some say in the way the images would be edited. I was also a little annoyed in the fact that she was not going to do what I wanted when I felt I was being quite fair. It took me a while but I responded with an email which I thought was quite honest and fair. In summary I apologised for the fact I might have offended her but I still wanted the images edited the way I had stated. I mentioned that I wanted all the images back for the entire project ready for April but if I could have the images back in two weeks time that would be fair. I thought two weeks would allow her plenty of time to edit the images as she had edited one of the images for her in a night.
I soon had a sharp reply stating that I should have selected her for her photography and editing skills and should let her get on with that part of the shoot. This really annoyed me as I felt it was quite patronising and in a way I could see where she was coming from but I felt that she was talking down to me. She agreed that she would edit the images but she wanted to make sure that she was happy with them first before she sent them to me. I could understand this as they were her images as well. She notified me that I had not given her much time to edit the images as she only edits on a weekend and she was going away the weekend after. She presumed that she had months to edit not weeks. I thought still thought two weeks was quite fair for editing as I did need to get back to the models with their images as well. Saying this I did not want her to rush the edits so I was willing to allow a little longer to edit. She notified me that depending on how the images turn out and in the future we can decide whether we could work together. And could she have a plan of the next couple of months on how I wanted the project to go.
From this email it really made me question whether I wanted to work with her in the future. I did really like the way she photographs and edits images but if she was going to be awkward to work with and unsure whether she could commit then I might need to find myself another photographer.
I replied with my time plan and what I wanted to do and the models I wanted to use. I think because I showed my organisation towards the project and she had an idea of who I was going to use this showed I was not going to mess her around and she said she would be able to shoot with me again. After a few emails back and forth the tension started to ease and I thought that I would see how the next few shoots go. She told me she would be in contact with me when she had edited the images which she hoped to do in one weekend.
Sure enough she stuck to her word and by the end of the weekend she had got all of the images back to me with and without her watermarks on so I could send them to the models. I was really pleased with the edits and she had done what I had asked her to do. These are the images she edited for me.
I was really pleased with the edits and happy to use the Meg one's in my calendar.
She continued to edit some more pictures for her portfolio and tagged me in them on Facebook. Although they are good images they are not useful to my project.
Christie Shoot
There are things that I do and don't like from this shoot. I think the lighting was really successful for the look. It is very soft with little shadow. The white background allows the images to be very clean and all focus to be upon the model.
When selecting the images from the shoot I found that the models expression was all quite similar. I wanted the mood to be more intense and angry looking but I do not feel this comes across. I am also not totally happy with the makeup design. Although it was practised and lots of testing took place. On the day, once it was replied it did not gel well together like I had hoped. I like the lips, I think the smudgy pink and black lips work well but I do not like the eyebrows at all. To me they look too intense and in the wrong colour. Also the blusher looks the wrong shade on camera. Instead of looking pink it looks more red which was not intended. I think the makeup and hair design is not strong, it does not portray my design skills and ability so although the images are okay, I am not satisfied that they would work well within my calendar, especially as the starting month.
The makeup does link to the moodboard and trend that I have created but not strongly enough. There are some colours which I think should be changed but I believe the lips work well as the epicentre of the shatter point. The brows were supposed to portray the branching out and upwards part of the trend and the blusher was supposed to suggest the flushed cheeks of the face when inside with the home of the central heating. The hair was styled in a grungy way to suggest the grime and dirt on the streets and underground of London but again I do not think it shows this strongly enough.
I believe Magdalena got the best out of the images and I am happy with the edits but I am not completely happy with the content of the image.
I fet I was organised for the shoot with Christie and got her to complete a model release form and had all the clothing ready. I did feel a little rushed for this shoot but as it was my first I think this was down to being stressed and wanting everything to go well.
Meg shoot
I am really pleased with this shoot. I think the images look really strong and portray exactly what I wanted from the moodboard and trend. I think the simplicity of the image works well, the lighting makes the images very clean cut and the makeup and hair design work well with this to create a strong image. The silver leaf on the neck and shoulders set the image off and have an edge. I am glad I did not make the rest of the makeup and hair too detailed as I think it would have detracted from the design. The hair works well being loose as it creates a softer look but the eyes are still intense. I also think the silver cuff works well in the image as it adds a strong sense to the image but not so it overpowers the design.
If I was to reshoot this looks on the same model I think I would have changed the lips so they look less dry and maybe make them look a little more pink. I would also bring in the colour mint into the image as it is quite strong within the mood board of this look. Overall I am pleased with the image and feel it has met the 'Employ appropriate materials, techniques and methods in relation to styling as a discipline, with skill and imagination, whilst observing good working practise' learning outcome.
I think that the look links in with the moodboard in that it is a softer look to the trend but there is less colour to the image compared to the moodboard. I believe the focus is on the eyes, they are strong and have been enhanced to bring out the blue in the eyes which works with the moodboard. The silverleaf relates to my shedding layers part of my research and trend and I believe really explains the shattered part of the trend.
Overall I am very happy with the images and am happy to use this look within the calendar.
This shoot worked out quite expensive as I bought lots of products and accessories for the looks.
I bought:
white card £1.50 (create a wind to blow the hair)
grey nail £4.00
Eyelashes £3.98
Black eyeliner £3.50
white eyeliner £1.99
Mascara £3.50
Tops £18.00 x 2 (different sizes)
Cuff £18.00
Silver Leaf £7.99
Hot chew £8.00
Christie travel £30.00
Meg travel £30.00
Model drink £1.99
TOTAL £150.45
As well as sending me the finals Magdalena also confirmed that she would be able to work with me for my next shoot which was a huge relief but also a little daunting as I was not sure whether there would be a tension between us when we next met. I wanted to come across to her that I was professional and would not let it affect the images so I decided it would be okay.
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